Professor Minxin Pei on propaganda, presenting self, and substance of the new Chinese leadership’s sloganeering of ‘China Dream’.

‘Today, it is the responsibility of China’s new leadership, headed by President Xi Jinping, to avert another decade of missed opportunities. Without missing a beat, Xi, like his predecessors, rolled out a new slogan to inspire popular confidence in his leadership. As a catchphrase for his administration’s objective, “the great renaissance of the Chinese nation” is bit long, but it has lately morphed into the simpler “China Dream’

CLAREMONT, CALIFORNIA – Ruling elites almost everywhere – whether in democracies or in authoritarian regimes – believe that clever sloganeering can inspire their people and legitimize their power. There are, of course, crucial differences. In functioning democracies, government leaders can be held accountable for their promises: the press can scrutinize their policies, opposition parties are motivated to show that the party in power lies and cheats. As a result, incumbents are frequently forced to carry out at least some of their promises.

Autocratic rulers, by contrast, face no such pressures. Press censorship, repression of dissent, and the absence of organized opposition allow rulers the luxury of promising whatever they want, with no political consequences for failing to deliver. The result is government of the sloganeers, by the sloganeers, and for the sloganeers.

China appears to have perfected this form of government over the last decade. The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), in response to rising public demand for social justice, has devised numerous slogans, such as “governing for the people,” “building a harmonious society,” “balanced development,” “scientific development,” and so on.

When Kal Kyi, a 30-year-old mother of four, set herself on fire in March to protest Chinese repression of Tibet, she joined a grim and growing fellowship of despair. Over the past four years, 112 Tibetans have immolated themselves in protest against Chinese oppression.

Tibet is burning, and the world community, including the U.S., must speak out. China’s new president, Xi Jinping, and the rest of its leadership must be persuaded that its interests lie with respecting human rights, particularly freedom of religion, and to restart discussions with Tibet’s exiled leader, the Dalai Lama.

Unfortunately, persuading Beijing is no simple task. China’s rulers have dug in their heels on Tibet as self-immolations continue to mount. They have expanded repressive measures while accusing foreign forces of fueling Tibetan grievances.

China’s real-name registration policy for micro-bloggers raises two questions for me. A step too far to dissuade libel and verbal abuse? Another brick in the Great Firewall? It looks like the Chinese public sphere 2.0 is about to be imposed a rather niggling leash.

On the more worrying side, Dr. Yao Zhengyu, associate professor of the Media and Communication Department at City University of Hong Kong ponders on the legitimacy of having private corporations manage and own these real name identities.

People in China now have to sign in with their real names and personal information if they want to tweet through their beloved Weibo services or micro-blogs, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter. The move is reportedly designed to dissuade libel, verbal abuse and other activities deemed detrimental to individuals’ legitimate rights. However, the new policy has also raised questions as to whether the real-name registration system might infringe upon people’s freedom of expression. Analysts believe that China’s major Weibo operators, such as Sina.com, are unlikely to experience a plunge in user growth, as they have already established themselves as the market’s main service providers.

So how will the real-name registration system change people’s micro-blogging behavior? And how can we strike a balance between Internet freedom and Internet regulation?

Ni hao, you’re listening to People In the Know, bringing you insights into the headline news in China and around the world. I’m Zheng Chenguang in Beijing. In this edition of the program, we are taking a look at the real-name registration system for China’s micro-blog sphere.

We talk to Dr. Yao Zhengyu, associate professor of the Media and Communication Department at City University of Hong Kong and Tian Zhihui, professor and deputy dean of the graduate school at the Communication University of China.